Twisting Dreams
by wearegliding5683
Summary: What will happen after Kashino and Ichigo move to England to start a new shop in Marie's Garden? Who will they meet along the way, and what problems will they face? Update: New rating, please take notice, as I do not want to make anyone feel uncomfortable.
1. Chapter 1

So this is my story based on the anime. I wanted to do write one based on the anime and one based on the manga, as there are differences between the two and characters in the differing stories. Anyways, I'm picking up this story where the anime left off, as though there was actually a third season. Kashino and Amano will be heading to the England branch of Marie's Garden. However, they are not the only ones with plans for the garden. I was highly disappointed when the anime didn't continue, seeing as they left it off with intentions to do so. I wanted to know what happened after that, especially now that Ichigo and Kashino have admitted their feelings towards each other. Please enjoy this story.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of this base story or canon characters. All rights go to Natsumi Matsumoto. This is completely fan based.

Side note: I'm adding this to all of the fan fiction that I'm working on at the moment. I'm in college at the moment, and I won't always have time to work on these chapters. I do hope to get at least one chapter for one of my fan fictions out every week, but sometimes that just isn't going to happen. I also want to warn everyone that I might not always be reading over my chapters before I post them. I am not going to take up a betas time, as I generally have decent grammar, so if there are some mistakes, please forgive me. However, if all you are simply going to complain that there are too many errors, don't waste your time. This is something fun for me to do when I'm not doing homework. As much as I want you to enjoy my stories, I'm not going to panic if every little thing is perfect. I don't mean to sound rude, I just have a lot on my plate outside of fan fiction.

"Makoto, look, you can see Marie's Garden from here," Ichigo pointed out towards the large city.

The two sat inside of the London Eye, staring out to the city that they would now call home. Not long after Henri Lucas called Ichigo and explained his plans for a Marie's Garden in England, he made the arrangements and began to move students to the European city.

It was decided that Lemon would remain in Japan with Hanabusa watching over their shop in the original Marie's Garden. Although the move was exciting, Ichigo couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed. The Sweets Princes were brought back together only to be torn apart, another loss of Team Ichigo.

"You are being too easy going about this. We need to start thinking about the shop. We can't get off on the wrong foot like we did in Japan. This is going to be more difficult. Henri-sensei invited well known pastry chefs to start stores here." Makoto said plainly, though he turned his attention to the direction that his girlfriend was pointing towards.

"Makoto, you're no fun. We only just got to England, and we have an entire month before the garden actually opens up. We will have plenty of time to plan out the shop. Besides, we know what we did wrong in Japan, it can't be too hard to fix the problems, right?" Ichigo said, a smile on her face as she watched the people from the large Ferris wheel.

"This is what I mean by you being too comfortable. We might have a month, but we don't have Lemon, Andou, or Hanabusa here to help us this time. They are all the way back in Japan, and are working in the shops there. We have to work together this time, and rely on ourselves, not other people." Makoto began to rant to the girl sitting across from him. Looking to her, she was sitting with drool beginning to drop from her mouth. "Amano, are you listening to me?"

"Makoto, I think that I can see a bakery from here, can we go there after we get out of the London Eye?" She questioned, pointing down to the shop that she spotted.

"You aren't even paying attention to what I'm telling you. This isn't going to be easy to open a shop here." He grumbled, wondering what exactly he had gotten himself into.

"I was listening to you, but do you remember what happened the last time that we opened a shop? You became too interested in how we were going to do everything, and couldn't leave it be. However, in the end that's all we needed to do, was take a break from worrying about the shop. Plus, I can see people eating the pastries, I want one." She called out, staring down at the people walking around with pastries. They were almost out of the Eye, and she could tell where the people were walking from.

As the door to their cart opened, Makoto and Ichigo stepped out onto solid ground once more. Walking away from the Ferris wheel, Ichigo noticed their sweets spirits appear beside them.

"Ichigo, did you have fun on the London Eye? They say that it's an attraction that many people like to go on while in London." Vanilla asked.

Ichigo nodded her head to the question, "It was fun to see London from so high up, and you can see the Garden from up there. I also saw a bakery not too far from here. We can go, right Makoto?" She asked, turning around to the boy that had stepped off the Ferris wheel behind her.

Beside him was a displeased spirit floating with her arms crossed. "Chocolat, what is wrong?" Ichigo questioned, a puzzled look upon her face.

"Nothing is wrong. Nothing at all." Chocolat stated, turning her head away from Ichigo. Tilting her chin up, she huffed out of her nose.

"She is mad that I stopped her from riding the Ferris wheel with you." Vanilla whispered into her partner's ear. "She didn't understand why it was important to leave you two alone. She will get over it though. So, did anything happen on the ride?"

Ichigo could feel the blood rush to her cheeks. After their kiss in Japan, Vanilla and the other spirits could not leave them alone about their relationship. There was also Johnny and Miya who had followed them around, wanting to split the two of them up. Miya continued to promise to give Makoto all of the chocolate in the world, if only he would marry her. Johnny kept going on about how he would be a better boyfriend than the chocolate prince.

Moving to England was a nice escape from the two cousins who went on about dating and marrying them.

"Amano, people are beginning to stare, if you want to go in, then let's just go in. Stop standing in front of the window and staring at people eating their pastries." Makoto grumbled, keeping far enough away to not seem as though he was with her.

She hadn't realized that she had led them to the bakery she had seen in the London Eye. She was staring down at the tables inside of the bakery, where people were sitting and eating the treats they had bought. Some of them were pointing to her, talking of her stares.

Makoto held the door open for the two of them, allowing Ichigo to enter the building first.

"Do you smell that?" he asked as they waited in line to be seated.

"Yes, it's peaches." She said, with a smile on her face. "But that's not all, I think I can smell some almond." She added after thinking for a minute.

"You must have quite a nose there," a girl said, standing before them. "We're baking our most well known pastry right now, it's a tart with almond paste and fresh peaches."

"Oh, then do you work here?" Ichigo stared to the girl, who couldn't be much older than Makoto and her.

The girl nodded, "Yes, this is my parent's bakery. I have worked here since I was little."

"Like Andou-kun!" Ichigo said without a second thought.

"Andou, who?" the girl questioned, a look of confusion spread on her face.

"Don't mind her, she doesn't think before she speaks. Andou is a friend of ours in Japan." Makoto explained, beginning to bow to the girl, before remembering where he was. Holding out his hand, he shook hands with the girl. "My name is Makoto Kashino, and this fool is Ichigo Amano."

"Kashino that is no way to introduce your girlfriend!" Vanilla shouted out, her arms crossed this time.

"Well, then maybe she shouldn't act like such a fool," Chocolat shot back at the blonde sweets spirit.

"Please you two, stop fighting," Ichigo tried to calm down the spirits quietly.

"Sweets spirits? They are so cute!" Ichigo stopped and looked at the bakery girl.

"You mean that you can see them? Does that mean that you have one too?" She asked, remembering that the only people who could see the spirits were the ones that had a partner themselves.

"Yes, my name is Lettice Patel, and my partner is Fennel." She introduced herself before a small male appeared before them. His hair was jet-black and his eyes bright green. They didn't match his partner who was blonde with gentle blue eyes.

"Please, come with me," the girl stated, showing them to the back of the bakery. They passed through the kitchen where there were plenty of bakers working as fast as possible. Stepping through the kitchen, there was a smaller dining room in the back. "Please, take a seat here, I will bring you some sweets."

With that, the girl disappeared back into the kitchen.

"Fennel was super cute, wasn't he, Vanilla?" Ichigo said, a grin on her face at the fact that they had already met someone who had a spirit just like them.

"Lettice looks like someone, doesn't she?" Makoto questioned, deep in thought.

"What do you mean? Is there someone that she reminds you of?" Ichigo questioned, she couldn't place exactly whom Kashino was talking of.

"Uncle, there are people here, they have sweet spirits too." Ichigo could hear Lettice's voice through the curtain that separated their dining room from the kitchen.

The curtain was pushed aside as Lettice appeared in the room once more. However, she wasn't alone, someone followed behind her. Stepping into the room, Ichigo's mouth hung open. "Henri-sensei?"

"Amano, Kashino? It seems you have reached England safely, and have already met my niece, Lettice. Then I guess now is the time to introduce you to your newest group member. You will work with Lettice on your new shop in England's Marie's Garden. You will be given one more member, but he is not here at the moment. Though, I assume you, Lettice, can introduce them?" The French man explained all too quickly.

"Henri-sensei, you're English?" Ichigo questioned, she thought he was French, but if Lettice was his niece, then did that mean he was English too?

"No, Amano, my younger sister moved to England for her studies, and married here. She now lives here with her husband and family. This is her bakery," Henri explained, "Forgive me, I must return to the kitchen to help with my sister. I hope you enjoy your pastries."

Ichigo had almost forgotten of the pastry that Lettice went to get them. When she placed it down before them, Ichigo sat and closely inspected the tart. The design was simple, a circular tart with an almond paste and slices of peach spread over the top.

"I will eat now!" Ichigo said, after taking a look at the tart. Taking a large bite, she closed her eyes as she chewed. "This is delicious!"

She continued to eat the tart within seconds it was gone. "I'm glad that you like it!" Lettice hollered, with a bright grin on her face. "It is a recipe that has been passed down in my family for generations."

"Are your going to finish yours?" Ichigo questioned, reaching over for Makoto's that only had one bite out of it.

"Ichigo, if you keep eating this much, you're going to get fat," Chocolat said, her arms in their usual crossed position. She still wasn't over the fact that she wasn't allowed on the ride with them.

"Chocolat, don't say such things." Makoto grabbed his spirit. "Remember, she taste tests for us. If she stops eating, then we will never get feed back from her."

Ichigo's cheeks puffed up, "That's not nice Makoto! Why are you so mean to me? Even after you asked me out!"

"Oh, you two are a couple?" Lettice interrupted their argument, her head tilted to the side.

"Yes, we started dating before moving to England."

"Our other partner, Ian and I are dating too. Oh, we should do something cute for the shop, like a romantic dessert." Lettice began going on about a boy they had yet to meet. Though, she seemed rather smitten with the boy.

"We can't let our relationships get in the way of our sweets. It would be foolish and selfish of us." Makoto stopped her, "Our relationship should not enter the shop. There we must be professional."

Lettice seemed surprised to hear such words coming from his mouth. Her eyes began to water. "B-but, that's not true. My mother and father love each other very much a-and they run their shop together."

With a smack on Makoto's back, Ichigo began to give off a nervous laugh. "Don't listen to him, he is just a mean guy. You can do whatever you'd like."

"Amano," Makoto dug his fist into the top of her head. "Don't speak for everyone, you don't know what you're saying. You really don't have any idea how to run a shop. Even after we opened one in Japan, you are still completely clueless, aren't you?"


	2. Chapter 2

I welcome you back to the second chapter of my fan fiction based on the anime series of Yumeiro Patissiere. I hope that you are all enjoying this story. By the way, I didn't mean to sound rude in the first chapter. Although, I'm not panicking about the grammar and spelling in this series, I do appreciate any reviews and thoughts about the story. So if you wish to leave a review, I would love to hear from you. If you do leave a review, why not tell me who your favorite pairing is in Yumeiro Patissiere.

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><p>"Ichigo, we're going to be late," Makoto said, staring down at his watch. After leaving Lettice's bakery the day before, they planned to meet together with the last member of their group the following day.<p>

When they returned to the apartment, the school paid for them to stay there, they had stayed up tossing ideas between the two. Ichigo brought up that they shouldn't get their hearts set on ideas; they still had to talk to Lettice and Ian. It was strange for Makoto to think of having someone partnered with them that wasn't Andou and Satsuki. When they opened their last shop, Johnny and Lemon were added to their group, but it didn't take long for Johnny to leave their group. He wasn't surprised to find the boy leave them for his rich cousin. Lemon was willing to listen to the group, not fighting with the majority of their ideas. He didn't know what he would do if Lettice and Ian didn't agree with his plans.

Hearing a door down the hallway slam shut, footsteps rushed towards him. "Makoto, I am here. We can leave now."

With his arms crossed, Makoto grunted, why his girlfriend was always falling behind, he could not figure out. He had hoped that when they began dating, she would manage to organize herself better. He even did his best to help her plan out her schedule, but there was only so much that he could do to help her out.

"Makoto, is something the matter?" Ichigo asked, seeing her boyfriend exhausted.

"No, nothing is wrong, let's leave. We're running late, and we don't want to give off a bad first impression." Makoto opened the door and allowed Ichigo to leave first. Shutting and locking the door, they left the building.

The walk to Marie's Garden was less than a mile away, which allowed the two to easily get there. As they walked, the two held hands. After they began dating, Satsuki brought up the idea to Makoto. Letting him in on the knowledge of what he believed women to want in a relationship. Makoto didn't quite understand how Satsuki was able to understand the workings of a woman's mind, but he didn't question his friend. The last thing he wanted was to get into an argument dealing with women. He knew so little about his own emotions towards the opposite sex; he didn't dare fight about what went on in girl's minds.

The opening gate to Marie's Garden looked very similar to that of the Japanese garden. The streets were lined with shops, and Ichigo could already imagine the people who would be rushing around to get to different shops on the day of opening.

"I can't wait for the garden to open. Think of all of the shops that will be opening! There will be so many sweets to try!" Ichigo exclaimed, unable to control her thoughts of eating pastries.

"Is there every anything else on your mind than sweets?" Chocolat asked, flying with Vanilla behind the pair.

"But, they are too delicious not to think about, don't you think?" Ichigo stated, running around the street, peeking in to see if there were the beginning signs of shops.

When she reached the shop that would be theirs, she noticed a boy standing inside of the building. She didn't recognize him, but she couldn't deny that he was pretty. His wavy hair reached to his shoulders, a gentle brown shade.

"What are you staring at, Amano?" Makoto questioned, peeking into the window, to what she was looking at.

"He must be Ian," Amano said, opening the front door to the shop. "Hello! My name is Ichigo Amano. I will be working here with you!" She said, with a smile on her face.

The boy turned around to face her and Makoto. Seeing his face, she could understand why Lettice was interested in the boy. Not that she would choose him over Makoto, but he could stop girls much like the sweets princes. When he spotted the two standing at the front door, he smiled back to them.

"Then you must be Makoto?" He asked, holding out a hand to the two.

Makoto was taken aback hearing the boy call him by his first name. They had only just met, but the boy was calling him that. Satsuki, who had travelled around the world, had warned him that there were many places where everyone would call him by his first name, but he didn't know how he felt about this boy yet. He looked down to the boy's hand, but didn't extend his own hand.

"Ichigo? Makoto?" A head popped out from the door that he guessed was the kitchen. Lettice's hair was pulled up into a ponytail, and she was wearing her baker's uniform.

"Lettice!" Ichigo said, hurrying over to greet the girl. They began to speak about the sweets that Lettice was working on in the kitchen.

"She's cute," Ian commented, nodding towards Ichigo.

"Aren't you dating Lettice? Why are you saying such things about Amano?" Makoto was confused on why the boy would say such a thing about his girlfriend. There were girls that he had to say were pretty, but he kept it to himself, besides he would never imagine breaking up with Amano, or cheating on her.

"Is there harm in me saying such at thing? I was just making a statement, that's true. I would never leave my Lettice for a girl like her, but I can't lie." He said, shrugging his arms. "Would you rather me compare the two? Because your Ichigo would never be able to compare to my grand Lettice." The boy said, giving a smirk to Makoto.

"What was that?" Makoto's hand balled up into a fist.

"Going to get so upset over one little thing? I thought that Henri said you were a respectable baker. He must not know you well." Ian said, flicking his hair in Makoto's direction before stepping towards the kitchen where Lettice was showing Ichigo one of her pastries.

"What is with that boy?" Makoto grumbled, his hand loosening from a clenched fist.

"He's like Johnny, do you think he'll fall in love with Ichigo too?" Vanilla asked, watching Ian bound into the kitchen.

"Vanilla, don't say that, Ichigo and Kashino are dating." Chocolat said.

Disregarding the conversation happening between the two sweets spirits, Makoto followed his group into the kitchen, where cupcakes were all over the counters.

"Cupcakes?" he picked one off the counter and inspected the frosting on top. Taking a small amount with the tip of his finger, he tasted it, "Apricot?"

"Yes, cupcakes are really popular in England at the moment. When I told uncle Henri about my idea of adding cupcakes to the menu, he thought it was a great idea. We don't sell them at our bakery, but I think that they would do well here. They are small enough to carry with you when you are walking around, but are enjoyable to sit and eat we well." Lettice explained, finishing the frosting for the last of the baked cupcakes.

Ichigo had two cupcakes in her hands and was finishing eating a third. "I think that this is a great idea. We can have different kinds of cupcakes, so that the customers never get bored with the flavors."

"Then we have decided, we will run a cupcakery." Ian said, placing his hand on Lettice's waist. "You always have the best ideas, love."

"What is with that guy?" Makoto said under his breath. Getting a grip of himself, he interrupted their celebration. "But what about the rest of us? Cupcakes are a fine idea, but what about Ichigo's tart? It sold well in Japan, and has won a world wide competition." He didn't mention his own chocolates in the matter.

"We need one focus on the shop, if we try to do too much, then we will not be able put our all into it. We should decide on one idea and stay with it. Besides, we don't want to confuse our customers. They want to see an identity with the shops, not one trying to over step its boundaries." Ian shot back, his hand remained on Lettice's waist, his face showing no sign of backing down against Makoto. "Besides, cupcakes will allow you and Ichigo to make your own style and type. You can pick whatever flavors you want, right? So what's the problem with going with one main focus?"

"Because, we're supposed to be working as a team, not throwing everyone else's ideas out the window, and forgetting about all other options." Makoto's voice raised, anger seeping into his tone.

"Makoto, let's go talk outside." Ichigo said, trying to give Lettice and Ian an innocent grin.

When they reached the front door, Ichigo shut it behind her. She didn't want Lettice and Ian to hear the couple fighting. She knew better than to give off bad first impressions to new people.

"Makoto, maybe we should go with their idea. They are the ones from England anyways; we don't know what the people here like. We've been in Japan for such a long time, the trends here can't be the same as they are there." Ichigo attempted to speak some reason into her boyfriend. Although, the thought of not being able to sell her tart upset her, she didn't want to start problems between the four of them already. Besides, her tart was being sold in Japan; she didn't have to have it everywhere.

"Ichigo, why are you backing them up? Besides, her cupcakes tasted fine, but they are nothing compared to your tart. Henri-sensei gave you first place, over François for a reason, remember?" Makoto couldn't wrap his mind around the idea of Ichigo wanting to go along with their idea. To forget all about their talents and decide on an idea based only in their preference.

"Makoto, do we have to fight about this? We don't have Andou or Satsuki here to help us. Why not try what they are giving us? We can't possibly do all of the studies that Andou did to decide what the geographic of people here enjoy. So, why can't we trust our group members and go with their idea?" Ichigo didn't mind giving in to the ideas of her partners, but she was used to working with the princes. They took her thoughts and imagines into mind, but in the end created them the way they could. She understood how to give and get, but she knew that Makoto was used to getting his way, or fighting with the others in order to stand up for his thoughts on varying matters.

Taking his hand, Ichigo stared up to Makoto. "Do you think you could try it? If it doesn't work out we can talk to them, tell them what ideas we have to improve the shop. But for now, let's just go along with it. Besides, who is to say that it won't work?"

Makoto didn't return her gaze, staring off into the distance. He considered what she was trying to say to him, decide if she was right on the matter at hand.

"Makoto-"

"Will you please stop calling me that?"

"What do you want me to call you? That's your first name, we are on first name standing aren't we?" She asked, knowing full well that he still called her by her last name.

"It's not that, but _she _calls me by my first name. I would rather you call me by my last name. Whenever I hear my first name, I can't help but think of my parents or of _her_."

"Who is _her_?"

The two of them jumped, turning around to find a sweet spirit in front of them. This girl was smaller than the rest of the spirits they had seen before, even smaller than Mint. Her hair was white, and she wore a brown dress.

"Who are you? And why were you listening in on our conversation?" Makoto returned his usual crossed arms pose.

"My name is Coconut, I'm partners with Ian," she responded, leaving out the answer to his second question.

Vanilla flew down to inspect the newest spirit. Chocolat joined her, though kept her distance from the girl.

"You must be young," Vanilla said, noticing how little the spirit was.

"Yes, I'm only a hundred years old. I passed my exam on the first try, and I was allowed to leave the Sweets Kingdom earlier than most spirits." The girl said, a devilish smirk on her face.

"She is the girl that is in love with Kashino, she is a year older than Kashino and Ichigo." Vanilla spilled all to the girl.

"Ma-ko-to!" A voice came from the entrance of the garden.

"Ichigo!" was hollered right after.

They didn't have to turn to know who was rushing towards them. Miya and Johnny had found them, and they had only been in England for a week.

Makoto reacted as quickly as possible, grabbing Ichigo's hand and pulling her into the shop, slamming the door shut behind them.

"Is something the matter?" Lettice questioned, seeing them bolt into the shop.

No one needed to speak to answer her question. Seconds later, the doors swung open, pushing Ichigo and Makoto apart from one another. Miya didn't waste a moment, grabbing Makoto's arm and hugging him. Johnny swooped in and picked up Ichigo, vowing to always be by her side.

"Who are these two?" Lettice questioned, confused on why they were in their shop.

"I am Koshiro Miya, I am destined to marry Makoto, and no one will get in my way!" She said, not letting go of him, but glancing to Ichigo.

"And I am Johnny, Miya's cousin. I will date and marry Ichigo!" He said, letting Ichigo down from his grasp.

"Um, Miya, what are you doing in the garden? Don't you have the shop in Japan to look after?" Ichigo asked.

Miya let out a laugh that could have caused ears to bleed. "Don't worry about my shop worry about your own. I am here with Johnny to take over this Marie's Garden as well. With that, I will challenge you to a match! The same as last time, whoever has the best sales by the end of the first week of opening, will get their way. If we win, you will be with us, but if you win, we will forget about you." Miya stated, with no sign of taking no for an answer.

"Last time we did that, you only gave up for a day," Ichigo growled, clearly displeased from the fact that Miya and Johnny were trying to go at it again.

"Fine, we will forget about you and leave you alone, for an entire month, how does that sound?" Miya stated, annoyed to hear Ichigo putting up a fight against the challenge.

"No, you leave us alone forever, or we won't take the challenge!" Ichigo defied the girl.

"Fine, forever, but remember that I won't be losing this time. I **will** win. Johnny and I have the grandest plan for this Garden, so prepare yourself." She said, with another laugh and exit of the shop. Johnny kissed Ichigo's hand, before following his cousin out the door.

When the door shut behind the two, Makoto turned to Ichigo. His eyes were burning with anger. Grabbing at her ponytail, he tugged on it. "Amano, why did you accept their challenge? Don't you remember the last time we did this? How foolish can you be?"

"But Kashino, they said they would leave us alone forever this time." Ichigo begged, trying to get him to let go of her hair.

"That is no way to treat a woman," Ian said, stepping forward and grabbing Makoto's hand. "How cruel of you."

Slapping his hand away, Makoto shot daggers towards the British boy. Taking Ichigo's hand, he pulled her towards the door of the store. "Cupcakes it is, we'll meet again next week to show each other our designs." With that, he left the store taking Ichigo with him.


	3. Chapter 3

Hello, I welcome you back to my story following Amano Ichigo and Kashino Makoto in their adventures in England. By the way, I want to know if it bothers you that I call Kashinio Makoto. If you would rather I talk about him by his last name during the main of the fan fiction, just let me know. Though, Ichigo is still going to call him Makoto for now. Hopefully you won't mind the way that I'm doing this. Anyways, I hope that you enjoy this new chapter of Twisting Dreams! Reviews are very highly appreciated!

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><p>"Ichigo, you're done! Let's eat it now," Vanilla said, staring down at the strawberry cupcakes sitting on the counter.<p>

After it was decided that they would sell cupcakes at their store, Ichigo began designing what she wanted her sweets to look like. When they got back to the apartment, Makoto closed himself into his room. Ichigo thought about checking on him, but she had learned long ago that it was best to let him calm down before approaching him when he got mad. She had made the mistake of sticking her nose into his business when he was still enraged. It never ended well, for either of them. Instead, she turned her attention to the type of cupcake that she wanted to make for their shop. She started with the look for the final treat, and moved on to the ingredients from that. It took her about an hour to decide on the appearance and ingredients. When she was finished deciding, she didn't waste any time and began piecing the sweet together.

The cake didn't take long to get together, and once it was in the oven, she turned her attention to the frosting. She had decided to go with a strawberry flavoring for both the cakes and the frosting. Topping it off with pieces of fresh strawberries, she was pleased with the sweet she had created.

At some point in the process, Chocolat joined them. She watched quietly from the corner of the kitchen. After their year in France, Chocolat had grown much more understanding of Ichigo and her ways. She also didn't speak out against her as often, but backed Makoto up if she bothered him.

Dishing out a piece for Vanilla and Chocolat, Ichigo smiled, "I'm going to eat now." Taking a bite from one of the cupcakes, she closed her eyes. She didn't know when she started doing it, but when she ate with them closed, she felt as though she was transferred to the world the baker intended her to in. "It tastes yummy!" Ichigo exclaimed, glad to know that she was far from the girl who had entered St. Marie Academy with no baking experience.

"Yes, Ichigo, this is great!" Vanilla joined in with her partner. They had been together through all of the pains and joys in Ichigo's baking career. Ichigo was grateful to have a partner who understood her ideas and backed her up.

"It's flat," came from the other spirit with them.

"What are you talking about Chocolat? It tastes great; there is nothing wrong with Ichigo's cupcake. You're just being mean to her for no reason!" Before their time in France, Ichigo would have agreed with her sweets spirit, but now it seemed that Chocolat actually wanted to help Ichigo.

"You think so, Chocolat? What do you think is wrong with it?" She asked, the always-serious Chocolat.

"The initial taste isn't bad, but after that it all becomes bland. You get sick of the taste after one bite, that's not a good thing. Your customers won't want to come back for a cupcake like that. Strawberry overpowers the cupcake, and it becomes too plain." Chocolat explained.

"I think you're right, Chocolat. I'll have to try it again." Ichigo said, picking up her sketchbook. If she wanted to change the cupcake, she would have to go back to the drawing board. Taking in what Chocolat had to say, she began to think about what to make. Taking what Chocolat had to say in mind, she did her best to think of other flavors to add to her cupcake.

"I've got it!" She announced, getting up from her seat and starting on another set of cupcakes.

"Are you making a vanilla cupcake?" Her spirit asked, watching from above.

It wasn't usual to see Ichigo making vanilla sweets, but she didn't add any other flavoring into the base of the cupcake before pouring it into the molds. She nodded to Vanilla, but didn't explain herself. Reaching into the fridge, she pulled out the strawberries that they had bought at the farmer's market. Pulling the top off twenty strawberries, she put them in a saucepan. Adding lemon juice and sugar, she began to stir the ingredients together, keeping a close eye on its temperature. When the strawberries were cooked down enough, she took them off the heat, and poured them into glass containers. Putting them back into the fridge, the cupcakes were finished baking. She gently took them out of the oven and let them cool down. There were only two more things that she needed to finish before she was done with her creation. Pouring water into a large pan, she added milk chocolate into a smaller bowl, and let it melt. While it was doing so, she gathered the ingredients for her frosting, whipping it together until the chocolate finished. Moving the melted chocolate onto a board, she began tempering it. She was never going to be as good at it as Makoto, but she watched him every morning when he practiced. She promised herself she would one day be able to stand beside him or at least slightly under him in the skill. When the chocolate had a sparkly shine to it, she scraped it into a bowl. Adding warm whipping cream, she mixed it together.

"Ganache?" Chocolat asked, much more interested in this cupcake than the last one. She stared down at Ichigo's creation in the works, wondering exactly what she was going for, for that cupcake.

Using a container of whipping cream, she added sugar and began to whisk it at the proper speed. Getting the strawberry mixture out of the fridge, she took her whipping cream and added a jar of the strawberry jam. Putting it all back into the fridge, she took a knife and began cutting the centers out of her cupcakes. When she had a tray cut, she put one on a plate and filled the center with the strawberry whipping cream. She then smoothed out some of the ganache to the top of the cupcake. Her final step was to add the second jar of strawberry jam to the frosting and pipe it on top of the cupcake.

Feeling someone behind her, Ichigo jumped in surprise, "Makoto, I told you not to sneak up on me. It scares me." She said, unhappy that her boyfriend continued to do it despite her pleads.

"Is that ganache?" He asked, not paying attention to her complaints.

"Mhmm, Chocolat said that the first cupcake didn't leave her feeling like it was anything special, and that customers wouldn't want to come back for it. So I decided to try something different. I didn't want to go with a completely strawberry cupcake this time. So I decided vanilla would go well for the cupcake. It is a good accent, but doesn't take over the other flavors. I saw in a magazine the other day about filled cupcakes, and thought I would try it. I wanted to put in strawberry jam, but I thought it might make the filling too dense. So I added whipping cream to the jam so that it would be lighter. The ganache was added to put another level of flavor to the cupcake, and I wanted the frosting to be strawberry flavored too. So I put more jam with the frosting, so it would be strawberry flavored." She explained her way through her thought process of the cupcake. Before she was able to finish, Makoto picked up the sweet and inspected it.

"I'm going to taste it," he said, taking a bite from the miniature cake.

"Hey, I was going to eat that one. I was the one that made it. I should be the first to try it!" Ichigo said, upset with the fact that she would have to put another together in order to taste her cake.

Makoto poked her nose, "You're a pastry chef, you should want to see people around you enjoy your sweets, not yourself pigging out on them all of the time."

"That's not fair, the chef should be the first to taste test something, in case it doesn't taste good." Ichigo said, after being told by every teacher she had ever had telling her to taste her food before serving it.

"So are you saying you know it wasn't going to taste good?"

"No, that's not what I said! Wait, do you mean that it doesn't taste any better than the first cupcake?" She asked, despite the fact that he hadn't tasted the first cupcake.

"I didn't say it did taste bad, I said you thought it did. It tastes good, but your ganache broke." He said, putting the cake close to her face for her to take a bite. When she did, her face lit up. "Your technique still isn't quite there, but you have always been able to think more outside of the box than the rest of us."

"Kashino, what kind of cupcake are you going to make?" Chocolat asked, approaching her partner.

"Who said I was going to make a stupid cupcake?" he shot back, still unhappy of the decisions made by the group.

"But, Makoto, you said it was okay that we tried to make cupcakes. Remember?

"You're the one that doesn't remember, I didn't say I was going to go along with the cupcake idea." He was still brooding.

"I bet Lettice and Ian are making cupcakes together. They aren't fighting over it." Ichigo said, letting out a sigh, knowing full well that her relationship with Makoto was never going to be _easy_. There would always be a topic that they would argue over, or he would scold her for making a sweet incorrectly.

"Why are you comparing our relationship to theirs?" he asked, taking the bowl of ganache and whisking it together quickly.

"They just seem like a relationship you would read about in a book. He didn't yell at her." Ichigo said, sticking her finger into the ganache and tasting it.

"A relationship without disagreements is stupid. There's a reason that they are in books, because they don't exist in the real world." Makoto said, glancing to his girlfriend. "Are you not happy dating me?"

"Makoto, stupid head, don't take words out of my mouth, and try to use them against me. Did I say that I was sad dating you? No," she said, gently punching his head.

"You were comparing their relationship to ours, like you were pointing out all of the faults with our relationship." Makoto said, though he felt rather awkward on the topic. They didn't often discuss their relationship aloud.

"Well, I wouldn't have to compare our relationships if you would just say yes to making cupcakes." Ichigo said, eating the strawberry cupcakes she made earlier and dipping it in the ganache.

"So you're using our relationship as means to get me to say yes to making cupcakes? You're a devil Amano Ichigo." Kashino said. He stopped whisking the ganache when it was smooth.

Without a word, Ichigo got up, giving her boyfriend a kiss before walking towards the restroom. "Two can play at that game." A grin stretched over her face. "I made dessert, you get to make dinner."

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><p>This time Ichigo gets to be the devilish one taking the shots. Don't worry, she's not planning on breaking up with Kashino any time soon. I just thought it would be interesting to have his own tricks played on him. Besides, they have been dating for some time now, they must have gotten something from each other, right? I hope you liked this chapter. Reviews are loved, and I hope to get another chapter up within the week.<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

Ah, it has been a while since I've been on here. I've been busy with school and work, but finally I have some time to work on my fanfiction once more. I hope that you are all enjoying this story! Reviews are highly appreciated, the more reviews, the more motivation I have to write another chapter. So this entire fan fiction might have taken a dark turn. I didn't know where I was going with this chapter, until it started. And now we're there. I promise that other chapters will not be as dark as this, but warning if you do not like dark stories, probably best not to read this chapter.

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><p>It was officially decided that their shop would be based around cupcakes, despite Makoto's displeasure. They spent two days coming up with ideas and creating new flavors for cupcakes. As the weekend came to an end, the four members sat down at the table in the main dining hall of the shop.<p>

"I'm tired!" Ichigo announced to the other members, resting her head against the table that sat before her. There were dozens of cupcakes surrounding them; all practice attempts to perfect the flavors they would be selling in three weeks.

"But, Ichigo, we have only been working for two days. Are you sure that you're going to be all right when the shop opens for customers?" Lettice asked, her pointer finger resting on her chin and a confused look on her face. "It's going to be a lot of work when the shop opens. When my mum and papa opened their shop, they said that the first month they only got three hours of sleep every night."

Sitting up straight in her chair, Ichigo did her best to put a smile on her face. "I will be fine, we have already opened a shop in Japan. I know what it will be like to work in this shop." Ichigo reassured the other female in the group. She often forgot that Lettice's family owned their own shop, and customers constantly surrounded her asking for her help. Andou did not often bring up his family's shop when Ichigo complained about her exhaustion.

"We are finished here, right? We can meet here on Tuesday to work on the look of the shop." Makoto stated, his jacket already on his shoulders to suggest that he was ready to leave. It was decided that they would give their test cupcakes to the closest food bank. Ichigo had offered to take them, which meant that Kashino had to tag along. He didn't want to waste any of his time, so the cupcakes were already packed in boxes and ready to leave the store.

"Yes, we shall meet on Tuesday!" Lettice cheered up and rose from her own chair. "Thank you for taking the cupcakes with you." She said, taking Ian's hand and left the store. Coconut and Fennel held a conversation behind their partners, but followed them.

"Hmph, what is with him?" Chocolat blurted out, the second the lovey-dovey couple left the store. Without needing to say it, everyone inside knew what the spirit meant. Every time that Makoto opened his mouth to speak, when they were working, Ian found a reason to interrupt him. When Makoto finished baking a cake, Ian found a problem with the flavor or the texture.

"Chocolat, he is trying to keep standards in the shop. He was correcting all of us, not just Makoto." Ichigo said, picking up her share of the boxes of cupcakes. Ichigo was used to being corrected on her sweets, but her boyfriend was known for being perfect in his ways. However, that didn't mean that he was always perfect, and Ian was trying to ensure that they gave their customers the best of the products.

"Let's leave," Makoto said, walking towards the front of the store without another word. He hadn't talked much throughout the day; in fact, he hadn't talked much the night before, when they returned to their apartment.

Hurrying up to match pace with her boyfriend, Ichigo turned the lights of the shop off, before Makoto locked the front door. When they finished closing the shop, they continued on their way back to their apartment, with only one pit stop on the way.

"Tomorrow, we should go to the market, we are almost out of rice. I was thinking that we could make fish tomorrow for dinner." Ichigo said, thinking about the meals she had, had throughout the day and what would balance them on the next day. "We haven't had fish for almost a week." Ichigo continued on, not noticing Makoto's clenched fist. "What do you think Makoto?"

Without a response he continued walking down the street. They exited the garden and made their way towards the building that Lettice gave them directions for. He was seething in anger, and it wasn't until someone almost ran into him that Ichigo noticed how far his frustration had gone.

"Watch where you're going, idiot, or don't walk on the sidewalk!" He screamed at the young woman who was walking past him. She looked at him shock before giving him an annoyed look and continued on her way.

"Makoto, that wasn't needed, she didn't even run into you. Besides, she didn't mean to do it. You can't let your anger out on other people. Besides, why are you so angry?" Ichigo asked.

"It doesn't matter, not that you would notice." Makoto shot back at her. He shook his head and moved past his girlfriend. "You pretend that everything is going to be okay, but do you ever look around to see what's going on around you-"

Another person running into him interrupted Makoto, he turned to holler at that person, but before he could get another word out he felt something hit his face. From behind him, he could hear Ichigo's yells of protest.

"Ichigo, don't just stand there, run!" He yelled before, the stranger grabbed him and shoved him against the brick wall that was beside him. Even with his demand, he could tell that Ichigo wasn't going to be leaving his side. Within a second she was pushed against the wall beside him. He could see that they were grabbing her hair and one man was whispering into her ear. Makoto could feel his blood boiling, he didn't mind if someone put up a fight against him, but for him or her to go after his girlfriend, that was too far. "Get off her!" He yelled at the person pushing Ichigo against the wall. The person holding him down shoved him harder against the bricks, and he could feel his skin scrap against the wall.

"If you knew what was best for you, you would keep your mouth shut." The voice spat into his ear. "If your family knew their boundaries they would think twice. That pathetic uncle of yours, tell him something for me, if he shows his face in England again, he won't make it out of here alive."

With that, the pressure against Makoto's back released, and the two were dashing away from the scene of the crime. Turning around, Makoto tried to get a good look, but all he could see were their backs.

"Makoto, you're bleeding!" Ichigo rushed to his side, and tried to dab at his face with cloth from her shirt.

Looking to his girlfriend, he could see the work that they had done on her. She was bleeding as well. Reaching forward, he tried to rub away the blood. "Idiot, you should have run when I told you to," he said, though there wasn't much force behind his word.

"They took the cupcakes." Vanilla said, staring down at the ground.

"That's not what is important right now, Vanilla!" Chocolat screamed, avoiding making eye contact with the blood on Ichigo and Makoto's face.

"But, why would they take the cupcakes?" Vanilla asked, confused on the reason they were attacked.

"That might have to do with what they told me." Ichigo said, once she got the bleeding to slow. "He said that I should step down from the garden. That if we open the shop, they will be forced to use more force next time, Kashino, did they say anything to you?"

He turned his head away from his girlfriend, but nodded his head in response. "They told me to keep my uncle away from Britain."

"Your uncle? Why would he come here? He has a shop in Japan, right?" Ichigo asked, getting to her feet, and helping Makoto up as well.

"He does, but yesterday, he sent me a letter. He is going to be here next month. There is a competition that he is to be competing in." Taking Ichigo's hand he began walking towards their apartment.

"Makoto, we should go to the police, they will help us find out who was behind that." Ichigo said, attempting to pull his hand and direct him towards the station that they often walked past.

"There is no need, we have nothing on them. We can't describe what they look like. Besides, I have my suspicion." Makoto said, moving faster to get to their apartment. "I want to get to the apartment, I have a feeling." He said, picking up speed as they walked. When they reached the front door of the building, it showed no signs of someone breaking in.

Stepping into the building, they reached the door with the number four written on the front. Opening the door with a key, Makoto swung the front door open. Turning on the light beside the front door, a breeze could be felt coming from the other side of the room, and all of their belongings were scattered on the floor.

"Makoto, I'm going to call the police now." She said, rushing to the telephone that hung up on the wall by the living room.

Stepping into the dining room, Makoto scanned the room, attempting to find what was taken. Their expensive belongings remained, which told him one thing; they were not there to get rich. He could feel an unease rising in the room. "Ichigo, don't call the police, call Lettice."

"Why, you don't think that she was the one who did this? She couldn't possibly have done this." Ichigo tried to put up a fight. "Just because you don't like Ian doesn't mean that they would try to do something like this. Lettice is not like that."

"I didn't say that they were the ones that did this, but we need to get in contact with Henri-sensei, and the only way I know how to do that is through his niece. You can call the police after you get ahold of him." He was possibly the only time in his life that Makoto would ask to speak with Henri Lucas, but if this all had to do with what he believed it might, they only had so many options.

Stepping into his room, he glanced around; it was a mess much like the living room. He didn't spend much time in there before he turned to Ichigo's room. He didn't often go into her personal area, but he wanted to see if they were in her room as well. He opened the door, and could see that the room was in disarray. However, unlike the other rooms, there was only one drawer on her dresser open. Stepping forward it was completely empty; he opened the next drawer, and found that nothing had been touched. They either gave up in her room then, or they found what they were looking for.

Returning to the living room, Ichigo hung up the phone. "I called Lettice to tell her what happened. She said that her uncle would come over here, and that we should stay here until he gets here. Then I called the police, they should be on their way right now." She could tell that Makoto was only half listening to her. "Makoto, what is the matter?"

"Ichigo, what do you keep in your top dresser drawer?" He asked.

"M-my top dresser drawer? Well, my, well my undergarments." She admitted, to find her boyfriend's face turn rose red before he slammed his hand against the wall.

"They're perverts then." He decided, "That is all that's in there?"

She stopped to think; "I left my grandmother's cookbook in there as well. To keep it hidden. Why?"

Everything was fitting together, and not in a way that Makoto wished to see. "Someone doesn't want us here, and they are trying to make it very clear."


	5. Chapter 5

I welcome you back to Twisting Dreams, and hope that all of my readers are doing well. I also have much hope that you are interested in this twist of storyline that has come from the previous chapter. All reviews are high appreciated, and I have great hope that you enjoy this chapter as well. I'm thinking about adding some more new characters in, as well as bringing in our favorite sweet princes. If anyone has any ideas for other sweet spirits they would like to see, let me know!

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><p>"Ichigo, what happened? Someone broke into the apartment?" Lettice came rushing into the room filled with officers in their uniform. They all glanced to the girl running into the room, but made no comment of her outburst in front of them all. Ichigo did her best not to blush as her rather new friend rushed to her side. It was not polite to cause such a scene in Japan, but it was simply another reminder to Ichigo that she was no longer in her homeland.<p>

"Well, someone attacked us on the way to the food pantry, and then when we got home, everything was thrown about." Ichigo said, trying to please her friend's wishes to know exactly what happened in the hours before. Makoto went on about how they had to watch what they were talking about, that he wanted to find out who was behind it all. He didn't even seem interested in speaking with the police, who she believed were there to do the same thing he wanted.

"You will stay at my house, we have a spare bedroom that Makoto can sleep in, and you can stay in my bedroom with me. I have a large bed, so we can share." Lettice did her best to make the matter a little lighter.

Their attention was turned away from each other, as a door shut and Makoto began to walk towards them. Their sweet spirits asked to remain at the scene of the crime. Neither Ichigo nor Makoto felt comfortable with the idea, but they begged to stay and watch as the police inspected the building. It wasn't until they said that they would be able to find out what the police believed in the matter that Makoto agreed to let them remain behind.

"Makoto, you are going to stay at my family's house until these matters are settled," Lettice explained the decision to the boy.

He didn't show many emotions at the comment. "If that is what Henri-sensei wishes, we shall stay there." He glanced to Ichigo, but no words passed through his mouth to address her.

"About that, my uncle is actually out of town at the moment. We have not yet gotten ahold of him, but Sully said she would inform him the second that she was able to get into contact with him. She was the one that asked my parents if you would be able to stay at our house." Lettice said.

Makoto grumbled inaudible sounds, but nodded his head. Picking up his jacket, he bowed to the member of their group. "Well, then I appreciate the help, and ask for you to watch over Ichigo and myself until everything is worked out."

It was Lettice's turn to be surprised by the manners of the different culture, but after a second she went back to her usual self. "There is no reason to bow, this is just what friends do for each other. We should be going though, my mother and father are waiting out in their car." She paused, "That is, if you are done speaking with the police."

Makoto nodded his head, he was the second one to speak to the police, and they were finished going over their remarks for the night. So, the three exited the station, and hurried to the car waiting outside for them. Ichigo slid into the middle seat, with Makoto on one side and Lettice on the other. When the doors were shut, the car was turned on and they began to move.

"This is a rather eventful night, wouldn't you say?" Lettice's father broke the silence in the car. Ichigo remembered meeting him when they ate at their family's bakery, but it was for a mere second. "England will toughen you up though," he was cut off.

"Papa, please, they are guests here." Lettice said, sitting up and fussing about with her father of the ways to properly treat their guests.

They wound their way through streets, until reaching the backstreets behind the pastry shop. Getting out of the car, Lettice perked up. "I'll show you both where your rooms are. You weren't able to bring any of your clothing were you? Ichigo, I can share my clothing with you. As for Makoto, well my brother isn't too much bigger than you, but you two don't wear much of the same clothing. If you can survive tomorrow in his clothing, we can go shopping tomorrow." She hurried her two friends into her house, and up the stairs above the pastry shop.

Their living area matched Sennosuke's even more than Ichigo originally thought. Though, the look was clearly more Western than the Andou's household. Their house felt comfortable, and there were plenty of rooms filled with books on baked goods. She showed them down a hallway, stopping by the first door to the right and knocking on the door.

"Oliver, open your door," Lettice hollered into the person on the other side. After a couple of seconds, there were footsteps and then the door swung open. A boy whose hair and eyes matched Lettice's, but stature greatly exceeded hers, stood at the open door. "Papa told you that we are going to have guests, right? This is Ichigo and her boyfriend, Makoto. They weren't able to bring a change of clothing with them, so can you give him something of yours to wear for the night?" Lettice asked, her brother gave a small glance to the two standing behind her.

"She's cute, he could lose that pathetic glare if he wants help from me though." The boy, whom Ichigo assumed was Oliver, stated. He turned around in his room to grab what she asked for.

But before he was able to return to the door with clothing, Makoto was walking farther down the hallway. "I will sleep in this."

Hearing him Oliver smirked and shut the door to his bedroom before anyone was able to say anything else.

"Makoto," Ichigo began.

"Kashino," he reminded her. The two glared at each other, their argument about to begin again.

"Sorry about Oliver, he always acts like that. You have to get used to him." She said, attempting to laugh off the matter. "Anyways, this is your room, Makoto." She pointed to the bedroom beside Oliver's. "The bathroom is right at the end of the hallway if you need to use it.

Before he parted ways with the two girls, he pulled Ichigo into a tight hug. "Kashino." He said, wanting the last say in the matter before he pulled away from her and shut himself into the guest room.

Lettice took Ichigo's hand and took her down the hallway to the last door on the left. "This is my room," she opened the door and turned on the light. Ichigo hadn't expected to see such a large room in the house. The bed was queen size, and there were pictures hung all over the room. The floor was clean of mess, but her desk was covered in schoolbooks and cookbooks. Stepping into the room, Lettice went to her dresser and began digging through, trying to find an outfit for Ichigo to wear to bed for the night. When she came up with a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt.

Ichigo took the clothing gratefully and headed to the bathroom that Lettice had told them to use. She changed, and was about to leave the room when a knock came on the door. "I'm almost done." Ichigo called, but the person on the other side didn't wait for her answer before opening the door. Her heart began to race, worried about who was coming in, but when the door opened she found Makoto before her.

"Makoto, what if I was Lettice? You would have just walked in on her. Unless that was what you were hoping for." She said, giving him puppy dog eyes.

"Don't joke about that. I knew it was you, because I heard you tell Lettice you were going into the bathroom. Besides, there is something we should be more considered about. They found us." The news didn't help her heart rate. Had he noticed someone outside his window looking up at him? Were they going to attack them in the house?

"Not with ease!" Chocolat flew into the room; she looked rather exhausted and annoyed. "You couldn't have stayed in one place for five minutes, could you?"

Ichigo felt a wave of relief wash over her as Vanilla hurried to her side. Hugging the side of her head, Vanilla cried, "It was scary out there without you. We couldn't find you, and I was afraid I'd never see you again!"

"Vanilla, we were completely fine, besides, we have information that they could use." Chocolat commanded over the other spirit. "We stayed behind at the apartment. At first, the police officers thought that it was just a random break in, but coupled up with the fact that you were attacked on the street, they don't believe that it was all by chance. So, we followed them back to the station to find out more information."

"We went to the station to find you, not to find out more information. We just happened to over hear them when we realized that you weren't there," Vanilla blurted out, to which Chocolat gave her a displeased look.

"Anyways, they started looking into people. They had a list of people that are entered into the competition that your uncle is going to participate in, Kashino." Chocolat tried to keep going, but it was Makoto who interrupted her this time.

"How did they know about that? I didn't tell the police about the contest. They aren't looking into me, are they?" He asked, his fist was clenched. He couldn't believe that the police believed he was the reason for the attack.

"Actually, I might have brought it up with them when they were talking with me. They asked if I knew any reason behind why someone might attack me, and they said that they needed to know everything. That's when I remembered that the attacker said something about you keeping your uncle out of the country." Ichigo said, seeing Makoto grow more angered by the moment. "I was attempting to do what was best for us, Makoto."

Her boyfriend turned to face the wall, taking a deep breath. "What else happened, Chocolat?"

"Well they started to do background checks on people, and started cancelling out people who could not possibly have a connection to you or your uncle. I wrote down the list of the remaining people here." She said, pulling out her notebook.

There were footsteps in the hallway, and within a second, Lettice's mother was looking in on them. "Oh, my, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to step in on anything." Her cheeks began to turn red, not knowing how to react to the two standing in the bathroom together.

"Sorry, w-we were just, getting ready for bed." Ichigo said, bowing her head, as she felt her own blood rush to her face. She would never do anything with Makoto, at least with the door wide open, but she could tell that Lettice's mother didn't know that. "I will talk to you in the morning, Makoto." She said, quickly, and ran out the door of the bathroom and back into Lettice's bedroom. Slamming the door shut behind her, she let out a deep breath.

"Is something the matter, Ichigo?" Lettice asked, she was brushing her hair at her vanity.

"No!" Ichigo said, louder than planned, but managed to calm herself down slightly. "Nothing at all. I'm just excited because Vanilla is in for the night. She stayed behind with Chocolat at the apartment." Ichigo said, Vanilla was giggling on her shoulder.

"The look on her face," Vanilla began, but Ichigo grabbed her and gave her a stern look. "Sorry, it was funny. But, you cut Chocolat off and then ran out. That wasn't the end of what happened at the office. I would tell you, but I wasn't there for part of it. That, and Chocolat made me promise to let her tell you and Makoto what happened."

"We will talk to Makoto about it tomorrow in the morning. Remember, we have plans to go out tomorrow, and we need to go back to the station tomorrow, so we should get our sleep." Ichigo said.

"But Ichigo, this is a serious matter." Vanilla tried to persist, but Ichigo was already sitting on the bed. A clear sign that she was about to fall asleep within seconds.

"Don't worry about it, Vanilla. I will talk to him first thing in the morning, but now we should sleep." Ichigo said. "Go to bed now, and we will worry about this more tomorrow."

Vanilla's foot was tapping against the top of Lettice's dresser, but her partner didn't seem to take notice.

"My fair maid," Fennel said, with a smile on his face. Vanilla looked to the boy beside her, there was a bed much the same look as Lettice's on the top of the dresser. "A perfect bed for a lovely lady such as yourself."

Vanilla didn't trust the new spirit, though he gave her no reason to fear, but after all that had happened that day, she didn't want to trust anyone. Even someone that she had met before, they hadn't known each other long.

"Thank you, but I sleep beside Ichigo." She said, using her magic to change into her pajamas. She flew over to Ichigo and lied down beside. "I hope it all works out." She whispered before yawning and closing her eyes.


End file.
